Building Professional Capacity

Running head: BUILDING PROFESSIONAL CAPACITY 1
Building Professional Capacity
Student’s Name
Institution

BUILDING PROFESSIONAL CAPACITY 2
Building Professional Capacity
Evidence reveals that optimizing nursing skill mix is beneficial for healthcare
organizations, healthcare professionals and patients. These benefits can be realized in the form of
reduced operational costs, improved registered nurse (RN) satisfaction and improved patient
outcomes. Team care is a new approach that gaining much prominence and this model focuses
on integration of allied health professionals under the supervision of nurses and doctors (Huang
et al., 2012). Skill mix under this model also relates to the different roles of team members
required to provide quality and patient centered care. Hence, the lack of balanced skill mix in a
staffing model will result in increased workloads and responsibility for GRNs which will further
hamper their ability to provide patient centered care.
Advocating for a Balanced Skill Mix
Internationally, the declining medical workforce and changing patient demands have
created challenges in primary care systems. Medical graduates entering primary care facilities
are decreasing while the number of patients and their care demands are increasing. In the wake
of these changes, the traditional role concept for healthcare professionals continues to be limited
in the process creating significant challenges in primary care delivery (Everett et al., 2015).
Nurses being the frontline healthcare providers are the most affected with these changing
dynamics.
(Identify and describe the chosen challenge in relation to being a GRN)
To respond to the healthcare developments and associated implications, the primary care
workforce has resorted to expanding the number of non-physician medical professionals
including nurse practitioners and other clinical staff (Jacob, McKenna & D’Amore, 2015;

BUILDING PROFESSIONAL CAPACITY 3
Tomajan, 2012). This response although effective is plagued with inadequate skill mix especially
considering that Graduate Registered Nurses (GRNs)
In Australia, primary care has and continues to be the cornerstone of Australia health care
system. The general practice is characterized by two to five care physicians within a
multidisciplinary care team approach that includes nurse practitioners and registered nurses.
Furthermore, the composition and skill mix under this approach is massively shaped by the
increase in the number of GRNs, that is, the percentage of practices employing a GRN has
increased (Everett et al., 2015). This indicates that the Australian primary care system is shifting
from traditional delegated care models to task substitution that is massively GRN-oriented.
The main problem with the model is that more emphasis is still placed on physician-led
care. As such, there is no true shared or team care arrangements within the model. This implies
that primary care physicians have not created a supportive environment for GRNs to perform
their tasks and roles (Rowell, 2013). More specifically, under this model there is limited
appropriate clinical governance and supervisory arrangements (Bargeron, 2015). Hence, with a
lack of established authority to offer guidance, a balanced skill mix in such working
environments is lacking implying that GRNs are not fully supported and capacitated to perform
their tasks.
Challenges for GRN’s in their Transition to Practice
(Critically discuss why the chosen professional practice issue can be a difficulty for all
GRNs)
Unbalanced skill mix corresponds with increase in nurses’ workload and as such, as
GRNs transition during practice they inevitably face workloads. The changing healthcare